The IV LEADER, like the college itself, has a long,
distinguished history. The earliest student newspaper at IVCCs predecessor,
LaSalle-Peru-Oglesby Junior College, was founded in 1933, nine years after the first
students entered L-P-O. The junior college shared facilities with LaSalle-Peru High
School, and occasionally student newspapers, from 1924 through 1967 when local voters
approved the formation of Illinois Valley Community College, and a separate campus was
built at its present location.

In 1933 the Hi-Co Scanner announced itself as the first
L-P-O J.C. and L-P H.S. newspaper, started under the leadership of Elizabeth White Parks, one
of the founders and first national president of Quill and Scroll. That newspaper, a
bi-weekly which derived its name from the high school and community college,
established a tradition of excellence. For its first semester issues, the Scanner received
a First Class Honor Rating from the National Scholastic Press Association, and in 1935,
the Scanner was awarded a second place by the Illinois College Press Association.

The Scanner sold for 5 cents an issue, the price of a hamburger in
the school cafeteria. Tuition at L-P-O at that time was $25 a year.

In 1938 the junior college established its own newspaper,
the L-P-O Echo, which was published through spring 1941, also under the guidance of
Elizabeth White Parks.

In 1938 the Echo
staff was campaigning for football to be reinstated at the junior college after an absence
of a few years. Howard Fellows, athletic director for whom the L-P High School stadium is
named, said a football player could be equipped for $19 for a total team cost of $500.

In the 1941-42 school year, the junior college and high
school newspapers were combined and named the Hi-Co Courier. Elizabeth White Parks
continued as advisor. The Courier lasted only one year, probably a victim of World War II.

After the end of World War II, the last joint high
school-junior college newspaper was published. The Keyhole provided students with "A
Peek at the News," according to its subtitle, from 1946 through 1952.

The first student newspaper to be published by the newly
approved, newly renamed Illinois Valley Community College appeared in November
1966. The Apache Smoke Signal name, which apparently originated at L-P-O in 1964, was
retained, but the newspaper was renumbered Volume 1.

The
November 1966 issue reported the results of the referendum which established the IVCC
district. Later issues reported the purchase of land for a separate campus.

In November 1967, the name Apache Smoke Signal was shorted
to the Apache in response to student complaints, according to a newspaper article, that
"the name of the paper was too reminiscent of a high school publication."

Early issues documented the move to temporary buildings on the current campus
location, and throughout the early 1970s, the planning and construction of the campus. In
the mid-1970s the newspaper reported the celebration of IVCCs 50th anniversary.

In fall 2001, the newspaper editorial staff decided to
change the name of the newspaper, responding to calls from civil rights groups to end the
use of Indian names for school and athletic mascots. The college board also voted to
end the use of Apache for the college's mascot. The college and the newspaper
sponsored separate contests inviting students and staff to submit names. Before the
end of the fall 2001 semester, Eagles had been selected as the college mascot, and the
editorial staff had selected IV LEADER for the newspaper name.

The newspaper staff is searching for issues of The Apache
Smoke Signal published at L-P-O from 1964 through 1966. Only two issues, published
in spring 1966, are available. Based on the volume number of those two issues
(Volume 3, issues 2 and 3), the Smoke Signal was being published starting in the fall of
1964.

The staff is also continuing to
search for newspapers which may have been published at L-P-O Junior College in the
following years:

1924  1933

1935  1938

1942  1946

1952  1964

Anyone aware of any student newspapers being published
between those dates should contact newspaper advisor Lori Cinotte at
lori_cinotte@ivcc.edu